


trying hard not to fall (on the way home)

by andfinallywearehome



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Meet-Cute, human!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 12:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18135755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andfinallywearehome/pseuds/andfinallywearehome
Summary: “Simon, what the hell?”“What?”“That was your chance!” The back of her hand smacks him on the shoulder. “That was your chance to talk to him and you ran away!”Simon stares at her, incredulous. “What, was I just supposed to sit on his lap and make small-talk with him?”(or, the one based on the ‘accidentally fell in your lap while standing on this crowded bus’ au prompt)





	trying hard not to fall (on the way home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MxVampirePunk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MxVampirePunk/gifts).



> this is terrible, don't look at me.
> 
> friend , the other fic you wanted is coming, but i got distracted writing this, whoops, so...here's an extra gift on the side?
> 
>  
> 
> title comes from Wild by troye sivan and i own nothing.

The one day they decide to walk home instead of waiting around to hitch a ride with Jace, it’s pouring with rain.

Clary huddles further into her already soaked jacket, burrowing closer to Simon as they try to take shelter under the umbrella that is doing virtually nothing to keep them dry. The bus is already running ten minutes late, and the weather doesn’t look like it’s about to improve any time soon - they’re at the mercy of the elements out here, and Simon is thinking fondly of the sweatpants and warm socks that are waiting for him back at his and Clary’s apartment.

“This sucks,” Clary grumbles for the third time since they arrived at the bus stop, glaring at the dead phone in her hand like it has personally wronged her. Maybe it’s because she can’t send her boyfriend any more venting, angry messages about just how awful the New York bus service is.

“I’m trying to block it out,” Simon replies through gritted teeth; he’s regretting the decision to leave his jacket today, because the cartoon Star Wars shirt he’s wearing is doing nothing to keep the cold out. “Maybe if I think hard enough, I’ll trick myself into thinking I'm in the middle of the desert somewhere.”

Through the curtain of damp red hair that hangs around her face, Clary raises an eyebrow at him. “Can you think hard enough to trick me too?”

“I’m giving it my best shot,” Simon says, but it’s not going well - warm weather and sunshine seems like a distant memory right now, to the point where even the relief of seeing the bus finally round the corner and pull up to the stop is short-lived. It’s already packed with commuters trying to stay out of the downpour, which is the perfect recipe for an unpleasant ride home. The driver is already giving Simon a disapproving look as he squelches after Clary, their shared umbrella leaving a trail of water behind them as they huddle in the space by the window; Simon’s free hand scrambles for purchase on the handle above his head as the bus wheezes back into life.

He’s trying to avoid making awkward, unwanted eye contact with anyone when his gaze falls on the cute guy a few rows away, one of the lucky ones that had managed to get a seat, staring out of the window and oblivious to the chaos of the other passengers around him.

Dark hair, dark eyes, leather jacket that screams _intimidation_ \- he’s exactly Simon’s type, so close and yet still so far on this cramped, inner-city bus.

Fingers suddenly snap in front of his vision. “ _Simon_.”

“Hm?” Simon turns back to his best friend. “Yeah, yeah, Fray, I’m listening.”

Clary, unconvinced, flickers her gaze between him and the row of seats that seem to have captured his attention; when she notices, a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “We could go and bargain for seats over there if you’re that interested. I’ve got a couple of dollars we could use for bribery.”

“What makes you think I’m interested?”

She raises an eyebrow, amused. “You’ve been staring at that guy in the leather jacket for over a minute now and haven’t listened to a word I’ve been saying.”

“I have!” Simon protests, more than a little indignant. He’s a loyal best friend, after all; he _always_ listens, especially to Clary.

“Uh-hu.” She nods, although Simon can tell she’s not buying it for a second. “Sure.” She cranes her neck to get a better look at the guy in question. “He looks kind of interesting. Mysterious.”

“Stop staring at him,” Simon insists. “He’s gonna notice, and then he’ll think we’re insane.”

“I’m just following your lead, Si,” Clary says, but she _does_ take her gaze elsewhere, which Simon is grateful for. He’s already soaked through and squashed on this overcrowded bus - the last thing he needs is to aggravate someone and risk being thrown off and made to walk the rest of the way in the rain.

“I was talking to Izzy earlier,” Clary continues, the cute guy already a forgotten topic of conversation for her. “She says that girl Maia asked after you again.”

“Oh?” Simon replies, distracted.

“Yeah. That’s the third time this week - I mean, it’s pretty obvious that she’s got a crush on you -”

“Girls like Maia don’t get crushes on me. That’s ridiculous.”

Simon goes to gesture to illustrate just how ridiculous that idea is, but, of course, the universe likes to laugh at him. He’s barely let go of the handle before the bus screeches to an uncoordinated and sudden stop, sending him stumbling backwards with an ungraceful shriek, tripping over his own feet and landing with a loud oof in one of the aisle seats, sprawled across someone’s lap.

Dark brown eyes stare back at him when he glances up, surprised and mildly unimpressed, and Simon can already feel the heat of embarrassment starting to crawl up his neck towards his cheeks - no doubt he’s now leaving damp patches from his clothes all over this guy’s leather jacket, all over his lap where he’s still sitting, frozen like a deer in the headlights.

Naturally, he panics. All he manages is a mumbled _sorry, I’m sorry_ , before he pulls himself up off the guy’s lap and all but sprints back down the bus to where Clary is stood staring at him, eyes wide, expression caught somewhere in the grey area between horrified and exasperated.

“Simon, what the _hell?_ ”

“What?”

“That was your chance!” The back of her hand smacks him on the shoulder. “That was your chance to talk to him and you _ran away_!”

Simon stares at her, incredulous. “What, was I just supposed to sit on his lap and make small-talk with him?”

Clary huffs. “Well, that would’ve been a good start! Better than whatever _that_ was just now!”

“We can’t all have our rom-com moment, Clary!”

“Okay -” She narrows her eyes, jabbing a finger in his direction “- _just because_ I met Jace by accidentally tipping an entire pot of coffee on him does _not_ make it a rom-com moment. If anything, it was the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.”

“Jace didn’t seem to mind when you agreed to let him take you out to dinner,” Simon points out, as he risks a glance back over his shoulder, at the guy who has gone back to watching the New York scenery passing them by. Maybe he should have started up a conversation. Maybe he should have gone in strong and used one of the many pick-up lines Isabelle is always throwing around with Meliorn when he comes in their usual coffee shop haunt every morning. Maybe, at least, he should have tried saying hi.

“Are you even listening - _Simon!_ ” Clary’s voice snaps him out of his inner monologue again. There’s a mischievous knowing glint in her eyes now, one that has gotten them into a plethora of trouble over the years.

He’s wise to be suspicious - when the bus makes a sharp left, Clary shoves him, _hard_ , making him lose his balance and sending him falling backwards again. Simon would like to think that he’s not usually a clumsy kind of guy, but today seems to be proving him wrong; yet again, he’s falling over his own feet, straight back into the cute guy’s lap - the cute guy, who’s possibly looking even more unimpressed than the last time.

He’s going to have to take Clary’s suggestion and start talking pretty quickly - which was her plan all along, no doubt. She’s pretty sneaky like that.

“Hi.” _Good start, Lewis._ “Me again. I promise I’m not usually this clumsy.” _Say something smart, say something good, say **anything** -_ “Guess I was just falling for you, huh?”

He winces almost as soon as the line has left his mouth. _Oh god_.

The guy raises an eyebrow - which kind of makes Simon want to crawl under the seats and never show his face again - and then the barest hint of a smile pulls at the corner of his mouth.

“That was appalling.”

“Yeah, it kind of was, wasn’t it?” Simon manages a half smile of his own. “Would you believe I’ve been working on that one for the past five minutes?”

When the guy full-on chuckles, Simon notices Clary giving him a thumbs up.

(By the time they reach their stop, Simon steps off the bus with a new number in his phone and the name _Raphael_ echoing in his head.)

**Author's Note:**

> i've missed asexual icon raphael and his pan bf simon so damn much.
> 
>  
> 
> i recently made a ko-fi so [this](https://ko-fi.com/V7V8R3NC) is the shameful coffee plug.


End file.
